Phenylalkylcarbamate derivatives, dioxane-2-alkylcarbamate derivatives and piperidinyl- and piperazinyl-alkylcarbamate derivatives, methods for their preparation and use are described respectively in the documents WO 2004/067498 A, WO 2004/020430 A and WO 2004/099176, wherein they are described as being useful inhibitors of the enzyme fatty acid amido hydrolase. (FAAH). These references and their teachings are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
There is still a need to find and develop compounds and compositions that will inhibit the enzyme FAAH. The compounds of the present invention have surprisingly and unexpectedly been found to meet this goal.
The fatty acid amido hydrolase enzyme (FAAH) (Chemistry and Physics of Lipids, (2000), 108, 107-121) catalyses the hydrolysis of endogenous derivatives of amides and of esters of various fatty acids such as N-arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide), N-palmitoylethanolamine, N-oleoylethanolamine, oleamide or 2-arachidonoylglycerol. These derivatives exert various pharmacological activities by interacting, inter alia, with cannabinoid and vanilloid receptors.
The alkylpiperazine- and alkylhomopiperazine carboxylates compounds of the present invention block this degradation pathway and increase the tissue level of these endogenous substances. They can be used in this manner to prevent and treat pathologies in which endogenous cannabinoids and/or any other substrates metabolized by the FAAH enzyme are involved.